Harvesting and treatment of sugar cane



arch 24, 1936. l y R. s. FALKxNr-:R l2,035,118

HARvEsT'ING AND TREATMENT oF SUGAR CANE" original Filed March 1, 1929 2sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR R41/DH .5'. f2.4 /r//vE/ BSCJMM. y

ATl'ORN EY March 24, 1936. R. s. FALKINER y 2,035,118

` HARVESTING AND TREATMENT 0F SUGAR CANE v Original Filed March 1, 19232 Sheets-Sheetl 2 INVENTOR Raz Fw H41 Afm/Ef? ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 24,1936 UNITED STATES HARVESTING AND TREATMENT O SUGAR CANE v Ralph SadleirFalkiner, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Application November 12, 1932,Serial No. 642,348 .l

In Great Britain March 26, 1928 6 Claims.

This invention relates to the harvesting and treatment of sugar cane andhas for its object to provide improved means whereby sugar cane is moree'iciently cleansed of unprofitable matter before introduced into themill.

According to the invention the cane, tops, leaves and trash are cutor.chopped into small pieces and are then passed into a bath of water,whereby, owing to the difference in specific gravities, the good orsweet cane sinks, the tops, leaves, dead and sour stalks and other trashfloat on the surface of the water and are thereby separated from thegood'cane. Suitable means may be employed for automatically removing thegood cane and also the separated sour stalks, tops and trash from thebath as hereinafter described.

To enable the invention to be fully understood it will now be describedby reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- l

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of apparatus suitable for`carrying out the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a further form of apparatus. l

Fig. 3 is a plan view of another form of apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus shownin Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view of a form of Ybelt which may beemployed in the practice of my invention.

Referring first to Fig. 1, a tank 1, is sued withr water, the levelbeing indicated at 2. An endless moving conveyor 3 is mounted with oneend 4 at or adjacent to the-bottom of the tank and a second conveyor 5is mounted with one end 6 just below the surface o-f the water. Theseconveyors move in the direction of the arrows and are of any suitableconstruction and may be driven by any suitable means. Each may consistof an endless belt, passing over rollers or the like at its ends. Thebelt may consist of a series of slats with spaces between to allowdrainage of the water, such as shown by way of example in Fig. 5, or anyequivalent construction may be employed.

A pump 6a is provided for circulating the water in the tank through thepipe land through/ a perforated pipe 8 arranged along the side of thetank opposite to the conveyor 5 and below the surface of the water.

With the above described arrangement, the cut cane is passed into thetank over the side A for example. The .good cane falls to the bottom andis removed by the conveyor 3. The sour stalks (CI. 209-173) and trashoat on the surface and the crculation current of the Water induced bythe pipef8 tends to force this floating material on to the conveyor 5which removes it. The good cane is taken into the mill and the trashdealt with as desired.

Referring now to Fig. 2. A preferably circular pit or tank 9 ispro-vided having a solid central portion ID which serves to form acircular channel II for the passage of water. l

A stream of water is caused to flow into the channel II through theinlet I2 and circulates round the apparatus in the direction of thearrow A. A skimmer-I3 is provided as shown and behind same and extendingto. avpoint just below the surface of the water is conveyor I4 similarto the conveyor 5 (Fig. 1) This conveyor extends preferably across thefull width of the channel. On the other side of the channel a conveyorI5 for the good cane and similar to the conveyor 6 (Fig. 1) is provided.'This conveyor extends to the bottom of the channel and preferably overthe full width thereof.r In this arrangement the cut cane, tops, leavesand trash are thrown into the channel in front of the skimmer and thewater current carries the floating material tor the trash conveyorI4,'the good cane falling tol the bottom of the channel and beingcarried round to the conveyor I5 which removes it. I

Any suitable means may be employed for circulating the water in thechannelv and the apparatus is provided with a suitable outlet oroverflow. A pumping system may be connected to the channel in such amanner that the same water is circulated continuously through thechannel. This method is of advantage in cases where only a limited watersupply is available.

With this invention all the good cane is washed before being milled,thus removing grit which tends to damage the rollers of the mill and allextraneous matter is removed, thus facilitating the filtration andclarification of the juices.

All leaves, tops and trash are removed. Under present conditions, thepercentage of these which go into the mill do so without any sugarcontent and leave it as (bagass) with an appreciable amount ofunrecoverable sugar.

The elimination of sour cane from the mill is a decided advantage in themanufacture of sugar the bottom of the tank for the reception of dirt Yand earthy matter removed from the cane by the washing action of thewater. This deposit may be removed continuously or at intervals by anysuitable means such as a suction pump or the like. The water may beagitated if desired to assist the separation.

In Figures 3 and 4 there is shown an elongated pit or tank I5, thecentral portion I1 of which is solid and provides a channel I8 for thepassage of water. A stream of water is caused to fiow into the channelI8 through theinlet I9. An endless moving conveyor 20 extends at one end2| to a point adjacent the bottom of the tank and is positioned forreceiving cane from another endless moving conveyor 22 mounted near thebottom of said tank. An endless moving conveyor 23 extends at its end 24to a point slightly below the water level 25. Theuoutlet for the watermay conveniently be formed by the channel 26 located beneath theconveyor 23. Conveyor20, as shown, extends through an opening 21 throughthe end wall 28 of the pit and into an extension 29 of the pit, incommunication with the channel I8. Said opening 21, as shown, is belowthe water level 25.

It will be seen that when the cut cane, leaves, tops, and trash aredumped into the channel I8 at the side B thereof the pieces of good canesink in the water and are received by the conveyor 22, from which theyare passed to conveyor` 20 and thereby removed from the pit or tank. Thearrows shown above the conveyors in Figures 3 and 4 indicate thedirection of travel of the respective conveyors; the arrow above theconveyor 22 also indicating the direction of fiow of the water in thisportion of the pit. The water may be forced through the inlet I9 by anysuitable Vpump or prcssure'source. The tops, leaves, trash and pieces ofsour cane rise to the top ofthe water and are carried to the conveyor23, by which they are removed from the pit.

The end wall y23 of the pit blocks the lighter material consisting ofthe tops, leaves, trash, and sour cane from passing on to the conveyor20 and compels said lighter material to be carried by the current ofwater to the trash removing conveyor 23.

A sump 30 is provided beneath the conveyors 20 and 22, and sloping awaytherefrom as shown. Any dirt will tend to accumulate at the deep end ofsaid sump, from which it can be pumped or otherwise removed. u

By virtue of the curved wall 28, any scum or fioating material escapingfrom the conveyor 23, which is preferably made` of open link material,will be trapped and again directed to said conveyor instead of becominglodgedupon the cane on the conveyor 20.

A grating or grid 3| may be extended across the channel I8 intherposition shown to prevent the cane from being washed off the carrier20 as the'latter approacheslthe opening 21 and as the water sweeps"across it at the curved end of the bath.

If desired, a series of paddlesY 32, driven by any suitable means, maybe inserted into the channel I8 between the conveyor 23 and inlet I9 toinduce a flow of water in the direction of the arrow c. By said paddlethere is induced an even movement of the water over the entire width ofthe bath on the surface, whereby skimming of the floating material bythe conveyor 23 is facilitated.

'I'he terms and expressions which I have ernployed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

The present application is a continuation in part of my application forUnited States Letters Patent filed March 1, 1929, Serial No. 343,818.

I claim:

l. Apparatus forcleansing sugar cane prior to the extraction of juicetherefrom, comprising an endless water channel for the reception of cutpieces of cane and trash, a conveyor extending substantially the fullwidth of said channel to a point just below the surface of the water forremoving material floating on said surface, a conveyor extendingsubstantially the full width of said channel to a point adjacent thebottom lthereof for removing the pieces of good cane, and means forcausing the water in said channel to fiow past said conveyors indirections transverse to the longitudinal axes thereof.

2. In apparatus for cleansing sugar cane prior to the extraction ofjuice therefrom, comprising an endless water channel for the receptionof cane and trash, a conveyor extending substantially the full width ofsaid channel to a point just below Ythe surface of the water forremoving material floating on said surface, a conveyor extendingsubstantially the full width of said channel to a point adjacentthebottom thereof, means for causing the water in said channel to flowfirst past the lsecond mentioned conveyor and then past the firstmentioned conveyor, and means comprising a curved end wall for directingwater carrying the fioating material past the second mentioned conveyorand on to the first mentioned n 3. In apparatus for cleansing sugar caneprior to the extraction of juice therefrom, comprising an endless waterchannel for the receptionof cane and trash, aconveyor extendingsubstantially the full width of said channel to a point just below thesurface of the water for removing material -fioating on said surface, aconveyor extending substantially the full width of said channel to apoint adjacent thebottom thereof, means for causing thewater in saidchannel to flow rst past the second Vmentioned conveyor and then pastthe first mentioned conveyor, and means comprising a curved end wall fordirecting water carrying the floating material past the second mentionedconveyor `and on to the first mentioned conveyor, said second mentionedconveyor passing beneath said curved wall to a point outside saidchannel.

' 4. Apparatus for cleansing sugar cane prior to the extraction of juicetherefrom, comprising an endless water channel for the reception of cutpieces of cane and trash, said channel having an elongated intermediateportion and a curved end portion, conveyor means extending in saidelongated portion and positioned near the bottom of said channel forreceiving the pieces of good cane, said conveyor means continuingbeneath the water level through an opening in said end portion andterminating at a point outside the channel and above the water level,and conveyor means in said curved end portion and extending to a pointjust below the surface of the water for removing material fioating onsaid surface, said Yend'portion being adapted to block fioating materialfrom passing on to the first mention conveyor and being also soconstructed and arranged as to compel said floating material to becarried on to the second mentioned conveyor` by the water in saidchannel.

Cil

5. Apparatus for cleansing sugarcane prior to the extraction of juicetherefrom, comprising an endless water channel for the reception of outpieces of cane and trash, said channel having an elongated intermediateportion and a curved end portion, conveyor means extending in saidelongated portion and positioned near the bottom of said channel forreceiving the pieces of good cane, said conveyor means continuingbeneath the water level through an opening in said end portion andterminating at a point outside the channel and above the water level,and conveyor means in said curved end portion and extending to a pointjust below the surface of the water for removing material floating onsaid surface, the second mentioned conveyor means being disposedtransversely to the rst mentioned conveyor means, said end portion beingadapted to block floating material from passing on to the rst mentionedconveyor and being also so constructed and arranged as to compel saidoating material to be carried on to the second mentioned conveyor by thewater in said channel.

6. Apparatus for cleansing sugar cane prior to the extraction of juicetherefrom, comprising an endless water channel for the reception of cutpieces of cane and trash, said channel having an elongated intermediateportion and a curved end portion, conveyor means Vextending in saidelongated portion and positioned near the bottom of said channel forreceiving the pieces of good cane, said conveyor means continuingbeneath the water level through an opening in said end portion andterminating at a point outsidethe channel and above the water level, andconveyor means extending to a point just below the surface of the waterfor removing material iioating on said surface, said end portion beingadapted to block floating material from passing on to the rst mentionedconveyor and being also so constructed and arranged as to compel saidfloating material to be carried on to the second mentioned conveyor bythe water in said channel, and a sump extending beneath the rstmentioned conveyor means and sloping downwardly and away therefrom.

RALPH SADLEIR FALKINER.

